Learn Buddhism: The Enemy Of The Buddha - Mara

Before Siddhartha was enlightened and became the Buddha, he had to face the demon Mara and his army. While Mara doesn't get talked about all the time in Buddhism, he is all around us trying to make us create the unwholesome karma that keeps us trapped in rebirth/samsara. Mara is also an analogy for our obstacles in Buddhism and for the Three Fires/Poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance. When we "defeat" Mara, we also end the Three Fires/Poisons and realize Nirvana!

Transcript

Welcome to another episode of Learn Buddhism,

I'm Alan Pito.

When we think of Siddhartha Gautama's quest for enlightenment and to become the Buddha,

There are many parts to this story with vivid imagery and inspiration.

One part that always interests me and I think is pivotal is going to be Siddhartha's battle and interactions with Mara.

Mara is a celestial being,

Sometimes called a demon or deity,

Which challenged and tried to put fear and doubt into Siddhartha and later the Buddha.

But who is he and why is he so important for us in our practice of Buddhism?

Mara is important in our discussion and understanding of Siddhartha and the Buddha and Buddhism,

But he's actually not a major player in Buddhism.

So he's not like the devil.

If we come from Christianity,

You might be equating Mara as you learn more about him with the devil,

But they're not the same type of thing.

In Buddhism,

We are seeing Mara basically everywhere.

So we have different realms of rebirth and this entire samsara,

The cycle of rebirth,

We're going to find Mara.

Mara is there in many different ways,

Engaging with us in many different ways,

But we're not realizing it.

And this is going to be a key part of Mara as I go further in this story and discussion.

We don't see Mara and that's the problem.

We don't see him.

We don't understand what he's doing to us and these conditions he's creating.

Because what he really wants to do is keep us in samsara.

He wants to keep us in this cycle of rebirth.

And one thing that Mara is equated to is the three fires or three poisons in Buddhism.

So that's greed,

Attachment,

Anger,

Aversion,

Hatred,

And ignorance or delusion.

And so these three fires or three poisons inside Buddhism is what we're trying to stop and get rid of because when we get rid of these three fires,

What we are left with is going to be nirvana.

So we don't have nirvana because of the three fires.

Nirvana is the extinction of the three fires.

And when we get rid of these three fires,

Three poisons,

Whichever terminology you want to use,

That's where you're going to have that clear vision,

That enlightenment,

That awakening,

Right?

And that's where you reside in your true natural state of nirvana.

So someone like Mara can't deceive you anymore.

You can't be trapped in this cycle of rebirth.

You can't be creating these unwholesome karmic actions.

So Mara is all throughout the realms of rebirth,

If you will.

He's all through the samsaric existence that we find ourselves in.

And when it comes to the Buddha,

We're going to hear these stories about Siddhartha and later the Buddha's engagement with Mara.

And they are interesting and vivid stories,

But they are also teachings for us.

They're learning lessons for us and how we should be engaging with our world,

With Buddha's practice.

So let's jump right into it.

Let's go to that scene where we see Siddhartha.

He's going to be meditating under what we now call the Bodhi tree,

The tree of enlightenment.

And this is where he's on that final leg,

That final stretch before he gets to that finish line where he's going to become awakened to the truth,

Become an enlightened being and become a Buddha.

Mara is well aware of what's going on here.

Mara's already actually engaged with Siddhartha in the past.

And so he sees what's happening here and Mara's like,

This isn't going to happen.

I don't want him to become awakened or enlightened.

And I especially don't want him to become the next Buddha of the era.

So in Buddhism,

We've had many Buddhas in the past.

Our current Buddha of this era is Shakyamuni Buddha or Gautama Buddha.

That is what Siddhartha became.

And we will have Buddhas in the future.

So this was going to be the next Buddha of our era.

And the existence,

The world that Siddhartha was living in at that time,

The teachings,

The Dharma were gone.

They were not there.

So the prior Buddha,

Those teachings are no longer in existence.

And so that's what a Buddha is going to be.

They are going to rediscover the teachings on their own,

And then they are going to teach others the liberating path.

Now Mara's seeing what's happening here.

And as I mentioned,

He said,

We're not going to let this happen,

Right?

So he's going to do a couple of things because remember,

He's going to do everything from fear,

Tricking,

Deception,

Distractions,

Obstruct,

Whatever he can do to stop him from becoming an enlightened being.

So he starts off,

I will say,

Pretty soft.

He's basically telling Siddhartha,

You need to give up this effort that you're doing right now.

This was a nice little side effort that you were doing.

You went out into the wilderness.

You learned from different teachers,

But you got to go back home because the throne,

Your father,

Been removed from him and someone else is taking place.

You need to get back to your family.

You need to get back home.

Siddhartha saw what was going on and he was not distracted and he was not deceived by Mara in that way.

And when we look at Mara,

It's not always Mara as this supernatural or cosmological being,

Right?

It could be anyone.

So Mara can take different shapes and different forms,

Everything from different entities,

Different beings to actual different conditions in our world.

So in that role,

He was coming as a messenger from his father's realm.

And so it would have been very deceiving.

So if Siddhartha wasn't at the stage he was,

He might've been deceived.

If he didn't have the faith and the determination and the effort,

He could have been deceived and swayed by Mara at that point,

Not even realizing it was Mara,

But he was seeing things a lot clearer now.

So as we progress,

Siddhartha,

He's near the end here.

I mean,

He's going to be this enlightening being and Mara is panicking.

So he's now sending his three daughters and his three daughters are going to be ones that are going to try to tempt Siddhartha.

Of course,

In Buddhism,

We never let a teaching moment go by.

So Mara's three daughters are identified in the Buddhist equivalent terminology,

Thirst,

Aversion,

And attachment.

So right back to the three fires of greed,

Anger,

Ignorance,

Right?

These are those same ones.

And so they are these beautiful women who are trying to seduce Siddhartha and he's seeing them for what they really are.

He's seeing that they are,

Of course,

Physically beautiful,

But they are,

Of course,

Also impermanent and there's inside who they are.

Of course,

They are Mara's daughters,

But they are also preventing him from achieving enlightenment.

He is going as far as to say they are equivalent to having like a beautiful vase and just having foul smelling things inside and very vivid imagery.

But it's important because in Buddhism,

We have to understand the impermanent and ever changing nature of things.

This is really important because we don't really see that.

We're very clouded to that truth.

And because we believe that there's essentially something that's permanent,

Unchanging,

And independent inside ourselves and in other things,

We cling and crave to that.

And we're always revealed to the truth through life,

Of course,

That that's not the truth,

But we can't really fundamentally,

Not intellectually,

But fundamentally understand that.

Here we see Siddhartha fundamentally understood that and he was not going to be swayed by Mara's three daughters.

Well,

Mara's not too happy about this.

And so what does he do next?

Here is where he really throws everything at Siddhartha.

And we've got to remember that Mara is this cosmological being inside the Buddhist cosmology.

And what he's going to do is throw his armies at Siddhartha.

We're talking about different types of demons and beings and warriors and everything going at Siddhartha.

Now for us,

We'd be terrified,

Right?

But Siddhartha is sitting peacefully,

Calmly,

Right under that tree of enlightenment still.

He's not swayed by any of this.

But again,

Imagine the most gruesome,

Scary sight coming towards you,

Just like hordes,

Never ending of all these demons and beings and everything just coming towards you as weapons.

And what's interesting about this is,

As the weapons are being tossed or thrown or lobbied against Siddhartha,

They are falling to the ground and turning into flowers.

Interesting.

Very vivid imagery,

Right?

So it's showing that this being,

Siddhartha,

Who's on the cusp of enlightenment right now,

He's not afraid.

And Mara's goal here is to make us fearful,

Because when we are fearful of things,

And you can think about things in your life right now,

Just be medical conditions,

It could be money,

It could be job,

It could be relationship,

It could be anything,

Right?

We're fearful of outcomes.

We're fearful what happens to us.

And Mara thrives on that,

Because we are attaching to things or clinging,

Craving,

Right?

And that brings in,

Remember the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance?

When we lose things,

We're gonna have that hatred,

We're gonna have that anger,

That aversion.

And then why is this all happening?

Well,

It's because of that ignorance of the Buddhist truth.

It's the ignorance of how to escape that,

The truth,

The dharma that the Buddha taught.

So we live in this delusional state.

And I've given examples in earlier podcasts and many different examples,

Like a dirty window and you can't really see out of it.

That's sort of like our delusional world we live in,

We are assuming what we're seeing.

Or maybe,

Just to give you another imagery,

Maybe you're driving on the wrong side of the road.

And in your mind,

This is perfectly right,

Because you're ignorant of the laws in that particular country and that city and how things work and everything,

You're ignorant of it.

So in your world,

Well,

Hey,

This is how it should be.

But of course,

You can cause a major serious accident by driving on the wrong side of the road.

Now,

We don't see it in that way with Buddhism,

But we're essentially doing the same thing,

Whether it's a dirty window,

Driving on the wrong side of the road.

We believe what we believe is true.

And Mara loves that.

So because we are going to start clinging,

Grasping,

And attaching to things,

And we lose those things because of impermanence,

As the Buddha said,

Is a mark.

We are going to have that anger,

That hatred,

That aversion,

And it's just that constant cycle that makes us create those unwholesome karmic actions.

So having those weapons just fall and turn to flowers,

Incredible vivid imagery,

But I think it's really important inside the Buddhist religion to understand why that's so important and showing that fundamental,

True Dharma knowledge of how our world works is more powerful in this example here,

In this religious example,

More powerful than these demons and these weapons that are being thrown at Siddhartha.

So this isn't sitting well with Mara.

He's riding this giant elephant that's storming towards Siddhartha.

He throws this round weapon at him,

Which just turns into a flowered cover for him over his head.

So nothing that Mara is doing,

The fear he's trying to invoke in Siddhartha to basically rattle him,

To prevent him from achieving enlightenment,

He's trying everything.

Nothing's working.

And you can just imagine the frustration in Mara at this point.

Nothing is working.

He's tried everything in his toolbox right now,

And nothing's working when it should have in Mara's mind.

So he goes tries another thing,

Because remember,

Mara is really this one who has a lot of tricks going on here,

And he's going,

Okay,

There may be a psychological way we can get to him.

I've tried a few different ways.

Let me try something else here.

So he tries to see if Siddhartha has any doubt,

And he does this by going essentially where you're sitting,

Basically,

Just if we want to think about it in our new Buddhist eyes or Buddhist religious concept,

The throne that Siddhartha is sitting on.

You're sitting on the throne of enlightenment where I should be.

That's my throne,

Not yours.

But all of his army is going,

Yes,

Mara is the rightful one who should be on that throne,

On that seat of enlightenment.

Not you,

Siddhartha.

Who are you?

And this was supposed to sow those seeds of doubt inside Siddhartha.

And this is going to be the pivotal part of this entire story.

It's the one you've likely have seen statues of the Buddha in this pose and not realize is connected to this battle with Mara where he puts his hand down and he touches the earth.

And he says,

Because Mara is telling him,

Who's your witness?

All of my army is my witness that I should be on that throne.

The Buddha puts his hand and he touches with his fingertips the ground and he says,

The earth is my witness.

And at that point,

A large earthquake happens.

And that was it.

How can you beat that,

Mara?

And the army fades away.

They go,

They're like,

Forget this.

I mean,

He has the entire world saying he is rightfully there.

And Mara goes away defeated.

And then he becomes an enlightened being because he battled,

We can think of two different ways here,

Physically Mara and his army,

But also what Mara represents,

The three fires or three poisons in Buddhism,

Great anger and ignorance.

He defeated essentially them both and he became enlightened.

And this is also the point where as the story of Siddhartha's enlightenment progresses,

Where he also decides that he is going to be the Buddha,

The Buddha of this era.

And that means he's going to go forth and teach others this liberating path.

And whoa,

Does Mara not like that?

But what can he do,

Right?

Well,

The story doesn't end here.

And for a lot of us,

We may have heard of this,

This battle with Mara,

But all the other encounters we may or may not be too aware of.

So remember Mara is really the embodiment of the three fires or three poisons,

But he's really about our obstacles in becoming enlightened.

And so when we are going forth inside,

Now the Buddha,

He's no longer just Siddhartha,

Now he is Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha.

He's going forth,

Right?

We see where Mara is still trying to trick him.

It doesn't end.

He's still trying his games on the Buddha.

In one of these,

He's telling the Buddha,

Congratulations.

You know,

This is wonderful.

You've become enlightened.

You've cut through all this delusion and ignorance and you understand things.

Perfect.

Well,

Why do you need to go any further?

Why do you need to teach anyone any further?

You're able to now rule the world.

Let me give that to you.

But that doesn't work with the Buddha either,

Because he sees that because he has cut off this thirst for having things,

For attachments to things,

To greed and anger and this ignorance,

The three fires,

Three poisons are gone.

So what will he gain by ruling the world or having everything he wants,

Right?

That's no longer important to the Buddha.

We also see in one story where there was this elephant that was charging at the Buddha inside this town and the elephant was just wild.

It was just charging down,

But the Buddha didn't move.

And what happened here was Mara was the one who tried to physically harm the Buddha.

Now we're getting serious,

Right?

So we had him try his army before,

Before he got enlightened.

That didn't work.

Weapons didn't work and everything else didn't work,

Right?

He's like,

I'm going to try something different.

I'm going to try an elephant.

So he wouldn't even know it's me,

Mara,

Right?

So the elephant is just charging down at him and the Buddha is not moving because in Buddhism,

The Buddha is a supernatural being,

You know,

Is just not another human being.

This is a remarkable human being.

They have several different powers essentially.

And this came into being here because the raging elephant stopped in his tracks right when it got to the Buddha.

And wow,

Why did that happen?

Because the Buddha is also emanating pure loving kindness and compassion.

Pure.

And this was remarkable and just overpowering to this elephant who was charged with like this anger and everything from Mara.

But the Buddha countered that with his loving kindness and compassion.

And that also teaches us inside Buddhism for our practice,

That's what we can do as well.

Because a lot of times when we look at these three fires,

How do we counter them?

Well,

There are antidotes to those poisons or fires inside Buddhism.

And that's why we practice them.

And you saw with the Buddha here,

He embodied that purely.

And we're just trying to achieve that,

Right?

He embodied that purely and was able to stop that raging elephant who bowed down to him and the Buddha touched his head.

This is something that's remarkable when it comes to the story with Mara.

Mara kept trying to just scuttle,

To just stop the Buddha wherever he could.

We also saw one where Mara,

Remember Mara can appear as different things.

He appears as a messenger before.

Well,

He appeared as this old farmer.

He also appeared as different types of wild beasts and natural disasters.

So Mara's doing all these different things,

Right?

But the Buddha wasn't afraid of death in a way that we as unenlightened people are.

And so he was not fearful of that.

And he was also most importantly able to see Mara through all of this.

So all these disguises,

All these different things that Mara was doing,

He could see it.

And that to me is one of the most powerful lessons of Mara.

Not that Mara is this cosmological being inside Buddhist cosmology or that he is embodiment of the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance,

Which is important.

But that when we become enlightened and reside in our natural state of nirvana,

Mara,

His powers are only as powerful as we give him.

So as the Buddha encountered Mara in many different ways,

Where Mara's trying to trick him or scare him or all these different things,

Right,

To basically reignite the fires,

The three fires or poisons inside the Buddha,

Or make him fearful,

Whatever,

Wouldn't work because the Buddha could see it.

And when we practice Buddhism,

We are trying to achieve that,

Hopefully at some little level,

Some minor level.

I mean,

We're looking at the Buddha or enlightened beings,

They can see Mara.

And so Mara can no longer impact him anymore.

But we're trying to get just a little bit about that.

So as we can progress further and further and further,

We're able to recognize Mara,

No matter how Mara appears to us.

And when we're able to do that,

Those fires,

We're able to put out more and more and more.

And we can come closer to enlightenment and eventually realizing nirvana.

But it is a long journey.

And we have to be aware that this life that we're in right now is a very precious one because it's the human realm.

And so Mara really doesn't want us in the human realm.

He doesn't say he cares either way.

But you know,

This realm is the most conducive one for enlightenment as the Buddha taught.

So for Mara,

He's going to do what he's going to do.

And for us as sentient beings,

We're going to do what we're going to do because we are living in an era right now where we have the teachings of a Buddha.

We can use these teachings to help us remove,

Put out these three fires,

Three poisons,

So that we can eventually become enlightened,

Realize nirvana,

And nirvana is the absence of those three fires or three poisons,

So that we can see Mara.

So no matter where Mara goes,

We're able to see him and not be influenced or fearful or anything else like that.

And I'll give you one more story of Mara.

So when we think of Mara,

And I give you many examples here where he has been interacting with the Buddha,

But he also interacted with the Buddhist disciples.

And so there was one story where he tried to deceive the disciples of the Buddha by pretending he was the Buddha.

And what he did was try to teach them false doctrine,

False teachings,

But passing himself off as the Buddha.

And if this would have worked,

They would have believed this false teaching from whom they thought was the Buddha.

Because remember,

Mara's goal is to make sure that they also can't be enlightened so that they can't see him for who he truly is.

But one of the Buddha's chief disciples,

Sariputra,

Recognized Mara,

Recognized this was actually not the Buddha.

And he challenged who Mara was trying to be the Buddha,

And Sariputra knew it wasn't the Buddha.

And he did that by asking him some questions.

And because he couldn't answer these questions truthfully,

Because remember,

Mara is trying to deceive these disciples by presenting himself as the Buddha,

Teaching his false teaching.

So Sariputra is asking him about things like the Four Noble Truths,

Eightfold Path,

All these different core Buddha's teachings that we know nowadays.

And when Mara,

Posing as the Buddha,

Could not truthfully answer that,

It revealed that he was not the Buddha.

And this was wonderful because this was where Mara was going,

I'm out of here,

Because I got caught.

And this is what we have to do as Buddhists as well.

So we have the teachings of the Buddha as the foundation for what we have as Buddhists.

And that's going to lead us in the correct path.

And we have many different Buddhist traditions out there that are following the Buddha's teachings.

They are going to help us achieve nirvana.

And nirvana is where we are absent of the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance.

And remember,

Mara is the embodiment of the three fires or three poisons.

So when we are able to see Mara clearly,

We are able to respond and react clearly as Buddhists.

And while we may not be enlightened beings like the Buddha right now,

We are able to use his teachings to help us see Mara and not let Mara have power over to us,

Where we are going to create unwholesome,

Unskillful,

Karmic actions,

Which keep us trapped in a cycle of rebirth.

We are able to respond skillfully and with wholesome karma.

Now this doesn't mean that we are going to become enlightened beings in this lifetime.

And we're not going to be able to always identify Mara.

But the more we practice Buddhism and the more we're able to see Mara in ourselves and in what's happening around us,

We are able to act and respond and be as the Buddha taught us.

Do you have any questions?

I'd like to hear back from you.

You can send me a message from my website,

Ellenpito.

Com,

Or contact me on social media.

If you're listening to this on Spotify,

You can also find a way to respond there and also a poll.

Thank you,

And I'll talk with you in our next episode.

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Thank you so much! This was just the reminder I needed 🙏

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